Can I use wood instead of slate for pool tables? Any advantages/disadvantages?

Question

I want to build by own pool table but I want it to be easily movable, which is why I don't want to use slate. Is there any problem with using a lighter material that is as smooth (e.g. wood, carbon fiber, fiberglass)?

Answer 1

the reason they use slate is cause it makes it sturdy, they have wood pool tables and they suck you cant honestly even have a good game on them...

wood warps and is way too light.  carbonfiber would be super

expensive and fiberglass would be way to light unless you used somethign like slate to make the legs out of...... ha they use it for a reason and btw any table thats easy to move isnt worth playing on unless it has small sections of slate or somehting

Answer 2

MDF/Particleboard is produced to be perfectly flat, but it doesn't stay that way moisture creeps in even just from humidity and causes the mdf to expand at the edges and then in a sort of bubble from the edge, it is also quite easy to dent.

metal expands with heat and so is unreliable, and could be heavier than slate depending on what thickness was needed

fibreglass is too flexible (could have balls bouncing around like on a trampoline) and too easily dentable. Also heat will affect the fibre glass pretty noticabley and the table would play different every time you went near it.

I have heard of tables that use granite which are cheaper but are not likely to be any lighter.

I am thinking carbon fibre could work as heat and humidity don't affect it as much, but that would be an expensive pool table.

But as has been said pool tables do need a bit of heft so they don't get bumped.

If you want the table to be easily moved why not also make or build in a  hydraulic jack/trolley/dolly type thing

Answer 3

Playing Pool on a wood surface is like using a giant stick of chewing gum for a diving board  ----- improper and troublesome equipment.

You can't play a 'true' game of pool on a wooden table. Like Johnny said, wood tables are toys.

If you're going to build a pool table, save your money and invest in slate --- it's the only way to go if you want a REAL pool table.

Take your time and find a good deal on slate. There are different thicknesses of slate for you to consider. Even the thinnest slate, is MUCH better than wood.

Wood is soft and porous and WILL warp. It's simply not solid. It's imperative to play pool on a SOLID surface. The heavy slate weighs the table down so that the pool table is not easily bumped or moved, which is impossible with a wood table. Slate will not warp like wood or other materials will. Slate also allows for a 'true' roll (as long as the table is level). Simply put --- wood is too pliable and porous. Slate is solid an will not warp and can't be 'bumped'. As I said, thinner slate beats the thickest piece of wood anyday!

Why is slate important?

Slate’s elasticity allows it to be manipulated into a perfect level, and the weight of the slate provides stability to keep the table level. Cheaper import tables use material they call slate, but it does not have that elasticity and time will tell whether it stays as level as real slate.

http://www.buffalo-billiards.com/faq.asp...

Inexpensive recreational billiard tables use non-slate playing surfaces, including

Slatron and Permaslate - Hard, synthetic materials that are basically sheets of plastic layered over particle board

Honeycomb - A stiff plastic honeycomb structure between two sheets of plastic

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) - A flat piece of material made from compressing tiny pieces of wood together, also called pressed wood or particle board

The biggest problem with non-slate surfaces is that they warp easily and don't have the durability to maintain a perfectly flat playing surface for any length of time.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/b... <---you'll find helpful information and a clear explanation here.

NOTE: Slate is heavy! You're going to need a solid base to support it. If you're not going to use slate for your table-bed, you'll end up building a toy table. Slate is imperative to a pool table -----there's just no way around it. I admire your ambition in building a good pool table. You're going to have to come up with a practicle and sturdy base to support the slate. Pool tables are heavy for that reason. Be sure to research the links I provided so that you'll understand the importance of using slate. You'll find varying thicknesses of slate as well.

Good luck -

LAG

Answer 4

Nothing in 300 years has been better than slate beds

A wooden bed is considered a toy and not for any kind of serious play at all